5 Inca Trail Alternatives that Are Just as Beautiful as the Classic

The four-day trek to Machu Picchu only permits 500 people on the trail daily. If you don't get a ticket months in advance, you might be stuck drinking pisco sours and watching badly dubbed Baywatch back at your Cuzco hotel. Unless you tackle one of these lesser-known—yet no less amazing—treks nearby.

You’re more likely to come across a group of llamas or alpaca on the Ausangate Trail than you are humans. I booked with Andean Lodges, which provides two or three guides to serve as your hosts, porters, and llama chargés d'affaires.

Camino del Apu Ausangate

Camino del Apu Ausangate

Expect strenuous, stunning days as you walk through here—and comfortable, cozy nights.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Choquequirao

Dubbed “the next Machu Picchu” and “Machu Picchu’s little sister,” Choquequirao offers something that big sis has long outgrown: solitude. The site is sufficiently unknown and so hard to get to (two days of uphills and downhills on the way in, the same going out) that you may well have the place to yourself. On the average trek, you’ll run into a few backpackers, the occasional orchid thief (yes, the flora is that good) and—one hopes—a tipped-off ranger. The ruins, which are surrounded by snowy peaks and lush slopes, were sacred to the Incas. I used Habitats Peru, which can set up a five-day camping trek—and the attendant guide, porter, and supplies.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Choquequirao

Something else Choquequirao has that Machu Picchu doesn’t: Llama terraces. Lots and lots of them. And they’re probably the only thing that will ever make you say, “Cuuute!” when you’re looking at Incan architecture.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Choquequirao

Choquequirao has terraces to spare, and though climbing them is probably the last thing you’ll feel like doing, the views from 5,000 feet above the Apurimac river are worth the burn.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Camino Salkantay

The Classic Inca Trail isn’t the only path to Machu Picchu: The five-day Camino Salkantay takes the literal high road to the ruins (you're more than 15,000 feet high at times, whereas the original never exceeds 13,800 feet). Accordingly, you’ll find yourself up close and personal with some of the area’s most famous peaks—not least, the trail’s namesake, Salkantay. You could camp, but I found that the hot tubs, plush duvets, and generous bartenders at the Mountain Lodges of Peru properties on the trail went a long way toward recuperating from the day's work.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Camino Salkantay

Though they're essentially the local cargo vans, these horses will give you a ride if your own legs need a rest. (You undoubtedly weigh far less than what they’re used to carrying.)

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Camino Salkantay

Every Salkantay trekker’s money shot: 15,091.86 feet. And it's so much the better—in terms of bragging rights—if a blizzard has just blown through.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Lares

Lares—essentially the Andean answer to Eden—is the picture of primal beauty: Think bubbling thermal waters, misty river valleys, and flagrantly fertile soil. Trails vein the valley in every direction. The operators who work here generally offer three- to five-day routes—and whichever way you go, it will be gorgeous. This trek from G Adventures actually ends at Machu Picchu.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Lares

You can find great indigenous textiles throughout the Andes, but Lares is known for its wools. Often dubbed Weaver’s Way, the valley is sprinkled with llama- and alpaca-herding communities whose beautifully wrought geometrics are legend—and not remotely subtle.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Lares

The signature Lares look gets accessorized to within an inch of its life come festival time. And the local calendar is obligingly fiesta-filled.

Photograph by Abbie Kozolchyk

Quebrada de los Loros

If you’re more of a day hiker than a long-distance trekker, the Sacred Valley is full of possibilities. The Quebrada de los Loros walk starts high up in Chinchero (a famous architectural layer cake of Inca and colonial ruins), winds down through the area’s accordion slopes, and finishes in the farming town of Urquillos. I booked through Tikariy tours, which also has several other options.

For more help planning a trip to Peru, contact our Peru specialist, Tom Damon, and see our related content: